The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura
County (JGSCV) will hold a general meeting, co-sponsored with Temple Adat
Elohim, 7:00-9:00 p.m. on Monday, November 5, 2012 at Temple Adat Elohim 2420
E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA

NOTE: Different Day of Week and
Time of Day for This One Meeting!

The Program: From the Spanish
Inquisition to the Present: A Search for Jewish Roots

Whether or not
you have known-Sephardic roots, you will find this program of interest-both
for the genealogical techniques Genie Milgrom will discuss as well as her
genealogical journey through time as she criss-crossed the planet for her
Converso or Marrano roots. Milgrom was able to document fully an unbroken
maternal lineage of 15 grandmothers going back to the late 1400's. She
will tell us her personal story and explain in detail the methods she used to
open up the Jewish history of the small village in Spain where her ancestors
resided for over 500 years. Today she is still very active and preserving her
findings in the village of Fermoselle, Spain which sits onthe border between
Spain and Portugal.

Speaker: Genie Milgrom is an International
Businesswoman and is currently the President of the Jewish Genealogical
Society of Greater Miami. She is also the author of the book, My 15
Grandmothers and is President of Tarbut Sefarad-Fermoselle in Spain as well
as an active member of the American Society of Personal Historians. You can
see more information on her websiteat www.geniemilgrom.com . Book signing and
purchasing opportunity--$15.00 per copy.

[Genie just returned from a
trip to Fermoselle, where the town's mayor proclaimed to be making an
Official Act and handed her the Symbolic Key to the Jewish Quarter of The
village along with a Pergamino to serve as a Document of Historical Memory
being given to a descendent of the Jews that had lived in this town of
Fermoselle. In history this is only the second time that a Mayor in Spain has
given a Symbolic Key to a descendent of the Spanish Jews. If you wish to read
about her trip a brief write-up is in the JGSCV's current issue of Venturing
Into Our Past accessible on our website: www.jgscv.org and click on newsletters 2012
issues for the November issue.]

We will have Categories A & C of our
traveling library available beginning at 6:30 PM to shortly after the
meeting.

Our 5-minute genealogical hint at the beginning of the program
will be by JGSCV President, Jan Meisels Allen on researching US military
records to commemorate Veterans Day.

The Jewish Genealogical Society
of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County is dedicated to sharing genealogical
information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested in Jewish
genealogy and family history. (www.jgscv.org).

There is no charge to
attend the meeting and all are welcome to attend. Our 2013 membership dues
campaign has started-any one joining or renewing from now to our December 2nd
meeting and is in attendance at our December meeting is eligible to have
their name drawn for greatgenealogical gifts! Membership forms are available
at the meeting, on the jgscv.org website and in our newsletter, Venturing
Into Our Past. Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for a
family. Dues paid are good through December 2013.

For more
information, including directions to the meeting, please see the JGSCV
website: www.jgscv.org

We are pleased to welcome the following webpages to
JewishGen KehilaLinks We thank the owners and webmasters of these webpages for
creating fitting memorials to these Kehilot (Jewish Communities) and for
providing a valuable resource for future generations of their descendants.

We have been notified that some JewishGenner's experiencing difficulty receiving their Discussion Group messages. We are working to resolve this issue quickly and appreciate your patience and understanding. In the interim, a summary of the topics beings discussed will be published here on the blog.

When the problems
have been fixed, we will post instructions on how to retrieve the posts you may
have missed.

Further information and updates will continue to be posted here.

Thank you for your patience and support of JewishGen's important work. Should you require immediate assistance, please email info@JewishGen.org

JewishGen will hold an “Advanced JewishGen Genealogy” class from November 1–30. It is Internet oriented, open 24/7, and focuses on finding family records in Eastern Europe, including the Pale of Settlement. Downloadable lessons include:

An overview of JewishGen and its search capacities and component databases

An understanding of Jewish customs, geography and history, as they affect family research

The methodology of foreign research

Jewish European research sources and how to contact other researchers

Hiring professional researchers in other countries to search for records

It often comes as a surprise that there was once a thriving Jewish community in Pakistan. This is well documented. The real mystery and surprise is the fact that there was also once a Jewish community in East Pakistan, today Bangladesh, of which little is known.Click here to read the entire article.

The [USA] National Archives announced effective October 1,
they are joining other government agencies --Environmental Protection Agency and
Department of Commerce--with a new online Freedom of Information Act [FOIA]
online system. Go to: http://FOIAonline.Regulations.gov.

It offers the public one
place to submit FOIA requests, track their progress, communicate with the
processing agency, search other requests, access previously released responsive
documents and file appeals with participating agencies. While you can send requests to the
participating agencies now, the data available in the system are initially
minimal and variable by agency. The partner agencies will continue to enhance
the system and they welcome other agencies’ participation. To read the National
Archives press release go to:

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV)
will be meeting on Sunday, October 7, 2012 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Temple Adat
Elohim 2420 E Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks.Come and celebrate our
7th anniversary. Light refreshments will be served.

The topic: Jewish
Surnames:The History of Jewish Surnames-Their Origins, Types and
Etymologies.

Learn when Jewish surnames were first used in various
countries, how they developed, and their transformation upon immigration.
This presentation will dispel several common myths about Jewish surnames.
Classifications of surnames will include: patronymic/matronymic, toponymic,
occupational, artificial, religious,
and acronyms. Discover which Jewish
surnames are the most common in the U.S., Eastern Europe and Israel, as well
as sources for learning more about your surnames and how they may be
accessed.

Speaker:
Warren Blatt, Managing Director and
Editor-in-Chief, JewishGen,(www.jewishgen.org), an affiliate of the
Museum of Jewish Heritage and founding member and board member of JGSCV.

In
2004, Warren received the International Association of Jewish Genealogical
Societies (IAJGS) Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of Resources
for Jewish Genealogy in the Boston Area; and co-author of Getting Started in
Jewish Genealogy. Warren has over 25 years of research experience with
Russian and Polish Jewish records, and is the author of the "JewishGen FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions about Jewish Genealogy," as well as many other
JewishGen InfoFiles.

Our schmoozing corner starts 20 minutes (note
the earlier time) before the program (1:10 p.m.) facilitated by Hal
Bookbinder, founding JGSCV member, and past president of the International
Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies(IAJGS).

We will have
Categories A & B of our traveling library available beginning at 1:00
PM to shortly after the meeting.

Our 5 minute genealogical hint at the
beginning of the program will be by JGSCV member Diane Wainwood on: The Port
of Dreams :Ballinstadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg,Germany.

The
Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County
is dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and research
tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history. (www.jgscv.org). There is no charge to attend the
meeting and all are welcome to attend.

This meeting starts our 2013
membership dues campaign--any one joining or renewing starting at this
meeting and is in attendance at our December 2nd meeting is eligible to have
their name drawn for great genealogical gifts! Membership forms are available
at the meeting, on the jgscv.org website and in our newsletter, Venturing
Into Our Past. Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for a family.
Dues paid are good through December 2013.

For more information, including
directions to the meeting, please see the JGSCV website: www.jgscv.org

September was enjoyable punctuated with quite a number of
Jewish holidays, including the Sukkot festival which begins now. In general,
then, our thoughts were in other directions, however, I'm pleased to say that
we did manage to make progress in a number of directions in the Yizkor Book
Project. As always, there are a number of new projects brewing - more about
these in coming reports...

Although we have over 700 projects already going, at
various levels of completion - 72 totally translated, I know that there are so
many Yizkor books that were published that we have yet to reach. Clearly, we
have a lot of work on our plate and, fortunately, we have a growing number of
volunteers who are taking part in this very combined effort.

And on volunteers, we are endeavoring to list all those
of you who have contributed to the success of the Yizkor Book Project over the
years. There are already 350 names on this list which continues to grow and it
can be seen at: